The Pull to the Light
by Weasleys Against Weasleycest
Summary: This is my abridged amendment to the way the sequels played out.


Ben Solo was no stranger to loneliness. Growing up he was alone or in the company if droids more often than not. His parents were good people. He knew that. They saved the galaxy years before he was born and obviously only truly good people get credited with saving trillions of lives. Good intentioned people, that did a great service for the galaxy. Though loving, they weren't the best parents. His father was an occasionally reformed scoundrel and ever a smuggler and his mother an activist and rebel turned politician. Both stubborn, passionate people with massive insecurities and more secrets than the average former spies. His parents and family loved him, but never really understood him. They reside so fully in the Light that they could not comprehend the seductive lure of the Dark .

He had always heard the whispers of the Dark Side, urging him to embrace the Dark to fulfill his destiny. Left alone for so long, he began to wallow in his own Dark thoughts. The whispers inflaming his anger, fear, and resentment towards his family. They left him in the Dark on so many things. As his powers grew, his fear of losing control grew at a pace to match. When a political opponent of his mother's exposed her and Luke as the children of Darth Vader, he was blindsided. He and people across the galaxy had grown up on stories of Anakin Skywalker and the Clone Wars, but they were all led to believe Anakin had perished at the hands of Lord Vader like so many others. Their lack of trust, their fear that knowing the truth would push him to the Dark made him more vulnerable to the whispers of the new Sith Lord, Snoke. His uncle's attempt on his life was the final push to embrace his Darkness and rise as Kylo Ren.

Then he met her and for a brief moment she was all that existed in his Darkness. For the first time in as long as he could remember the whisperers of Sith long past were silenced, as though even these ghosts that haunt him were in awe of her too. It only lasted a moment, then the voices that once whispered returned with a roar, demanding his allegiance and focus. Still, despite the cacophony of voices urging him to sink once more into the Dark, he now felt stronger than ever the pull to the Light.

* * *

The initial interrogation with her had derailed his focus. Her escape rattled him further. Killing his father had destroyed his soul. The loneliness magnified with the weight of his guilt. Then he began to hear her in his dreams. Soon the Force was connecting them in their waking hours. The Force began the process, but he was fast becoming dependent on these interactions with her and sought to build their bond.

With meditation he was able to see the tendrils connecting him to others through the Force. The line connecting him to his mother had always been like a small laser, ever present despite his attempts to keep Leia's voice out of his head. The rest of his former family showed as occasional blips. The Supreme Leader's presence scarred his Force self with violent, infrequent bursts of power and rage. But the Scavenger's presence in the Force shone brighter than any star he had every seen. The Force bond between them was clearly visible to his Force self, not a line or a burst, but a wide, clear path to one another.

He reached out to her, and in a breath he saw her. A tidal wave of emotions swarmed him, his yes, but hers too. The shock of feeling her emotions, sent him reeling. He broke the connection and did his best to refocus.

Later, when their hands touched through the Force he saw their path. He knew what he had to, and feared he would not have the strength to endure it.

Kylo Ren squashed all the feelings Ben Solo tried to push to the fore. There was a Rebellion to wipe from existence. He would sway her to his side. Neither the Dark nor the Light would be enough to stop them when she did.

* * *

Fighting with, instead of against, her had been more exhilarating than anything he had previously experienced. Their movements had been so in sync, showing their bond growing to affect the physical realm.

When Rey rejected is offered hand, he felt the conflict within her. Her desire to take his hand was as strong as his own yearning. He felt her fear of this desire to let go, to join him, to embrace the Darkness she had found within herself. He felt also her hope. Hope, that he would step back to the Light.

They neither of them were truly all Dark Side or Light. The hurt at her denial, the breaking of his grandfather's lightsaber, all stoked the flame of his anger, urging him to demanded she let go of her past as he clung tightly to his own.

* * *

Descending upon the cornered Resistance, fueled by his grudges he had intended to wipe out the Resistance entirely. He would end all of this. Skywalker's distraction served to inflame Kylo Ren's wrath giving the rebel scum the chance to escape.

When the Force connected him to his scavenger once more, he saw and felt her own conflict. The connection was cut short as his uncle's death reverberated through the Force. Despite his hatred toward Luke, Kylo felt a desperate sadness clawing at his heart.

* * *

Over the course of the a year and a half, Kylo began to feel more and more like Ben Solo was taking back control. The echoes of the Sith still plagued him, but his mother's voice and Rey's presence were now a constant lure he could not block out. The Light had once more gained a solid foothold in his soul.

As the galaxy quaked in terror at the menacing voice of The Emperor broadcast as far as the Outer Rim, Kylo knew he would lose everything to the Emperor if he did not act decisively. His power, his position, and Rey were at risk and he would destroy any threat to them.

Tracking the Emperor to Exegol, feeling the scope of Sidious's power Kylo knew the Emperor could not be allowed to rise once more. The revelation that Rey was a Palpatine rang true bit felt wrong to the depths of his soul. She was nothing like this scarred, rotting shell of a person despite the Darkness that tinged her Light.

The Emperor wanted Rey for darker purposes than Kylo could divine, the order to bring her to him and slaughter her a clear misdirection. If anything the Emperor craved Kylo's demise at her hands. As he left Exegol, he knew that his priorities had shifted. He would rip apart the First Order, Palpatine's Final Order, everything would crumble before he allowed Rey to suffer as he did.

She would join him and they would eradicate the Sith and the Jedi and reign over a New Order free of the past. She must be made to see and accept the Darkness within them both. Pushing her to unleash Dark Side powers was key, but her unexpectedly destroyed the shuttle on Pasaana was glorious. The raw power radiating from her truly terrifying and beautiful to behold.

* * *

Seeing her emerge, shaken and afraid from the Emperor's vault on the shattered Death Star chipped away at his resolve to sway her fully to the Dark. He was prepared for her violent reaction, their ensuing battle. So caught up in the fight he, let himself lapse into the violence of his emotions.

As he nearly struck a fatal blow, he was struck by a blast of Force energy and his mother's voice shouting _"Benjamin Solo!"_

In the next moment he felt his mother's death, the cost of using so much Force energy too much for her weakened body.

Her loss broke Ben free. Despite the spray of the violent sea he knew tears streamed down his face. She was gone. Both his parents now dead, beyond reconciliation. It jarred him from the trance like state he had been in and caused enough of a pause for Rey to strike a terrible blow to his abdomen.

She belatedly felt his mother's death, and anguish at the loss and the wound she had inflicted brought tears to her eyes. He felt his life force fading, then in the next moment Rey placed her hand above the wound and he felt her life Force healing the torn and bleeding flesh.

When she left and the mirage of his father confirmed what he knew now to be his path, he let his past die. Kylo Ren was dead. He was not the same Ben Solo he had once been, but perhaps a far more balanced version of himself. The only thing that now mattered was saving Rey, from her bloodline and from herself.

As he flew his Tie Silencer through hyperspace the Force swelled with the voices of his mother, uncle, grandfather , and many Jedi long dead. Their words enveloping him just as he felt his family's love.

_"Ben…"_ he felt and heard his grandfather's Force ghost say. _"This will be the hardest trial of any you have yet faced."_

_"My boy, I'm so proud of you. All that you have been through has prepared you for this final conflict."_ Leia's ghost said, her spectral hand squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.

"_You will bring balance back to the Force, true balance of Dark and Light as my father and I both failed to do. We were an imperfect blend. I too much within the Light, he to much given to the Dark."_ Luke stood beside his sister.

_"__Rey is the key. The catalyst. If she falls to Palpatine, so too shall the galaxy fall to Darkness_" Obi-wan Kenobi somberly informed him.

In the final moments of the journey to Exegol, their ghosts faded but their voices and presence remained comforting and encouraging Ben.

Descending from the ship he followed the beacon of Rey's light into the withered heart of the ancient Sith temple. Blasting away the Red Guards, without pause he cut a path toward her. He felt the connection grow the closer he got to the throne room.

As he rounded the final corner he felt the ominous presence of the Knights of Ren, his former peers, their rage at his perceived betrayal palpable. Surrounded, he felt Rey's fear spike, not fear of Palpatine, but fear of losing him and he felt her intentions .

Raising his arm as she did, he accepted his grandfather's lightsaber through their Force bond. This quiet display of their power momentarily stunned the Knights and Ben seized upon their shock after shrugged bow acknowledging it. The Knights fought viciously despite knowing that they were outmatched by his skill and power and he took them down one by one. Finally, having cut down all in the way of getting to her, he took out a Red Guard and there she was.

"Ben!" Rey's voice was soft, nearly breathless. Her soul called out to him a thousand times louder than any Force presence ever had and it took everything in him not to sweep her into his arms right then.

Together they faced the Emperor, her grandfather, struggling against his considerable Dark powers. Ben felt no shock when Palpatine attempted to sway Rey to his will, nor when she refused to join the vile carcass of a man.

Rey would not become a conduit for the Sith Lord to possess, this long held tradition of the Dark to absorb their Master's essence, clearly abhorrent to her.

Ben reached out with the Force and saw that all the measures taken to prolong the Emperor's life after the grave wounds inflicted the conflict on the Second Death Star, were merely prolonging the inevitable. The shell of the Emperor's body would not last much longer, the man clearly growing desperate and impatient.

"If you will not end the Skywalker line and absorb his powers and that of all the Sith, I see no reason to waste the power of a Dyad in the Force." The Emperor snarled, reaching out he began to rip their life Force away, absorbing it into himself.

Brought to their knees as he drained them Ben weakly clasped Rey's hand, unable to stop the pull he wanted this connection, this contact, if these were to be their final moments.

_"Ben, I'm so sorry I thought we could do this. I had such hope. I…"_ her voice whispered into his head.

But he cut her off _"From the moment I met you, you became the Light in my Darkness. I wish I had given in to you back then. I wish we had had more time. Rey I…"_ He struggled, the pain of realizing he loved her only to die at her side was crippling as the drain of their life forces.

As one they projected to the other _"I love you."_ And the drain of their energy stopped abruptly. Their life Forces now more merged as one, Palpatine could no longer pull from them.

Enraged at this change, Palpatine flung Ben over the edge of the dark chasm with a pulse of Force energy. As his body hurtled into the seemingly bottomless chasm, the bond between Rey and him seemed to grow tighter, till he feared it might truly sever, then as though impact ing the ground his descent abruptly stopped and he was pulled upward by the Force bond.

He felt her weakening through their bond as she battled alone. _"I'm coming, Rey. You're not alone. Hold on." _He sent to her through their connection.

As he pulled himself up over the ledge he saw her collapse, her presence in the Force dimming alarmingly. Struggling to her side, he dragged his battered body to her. She was not gone. He would not lose her now.

Gathering her into his arms, he sent all his power, love, and energy to her through the Force bond. Willing her to stay with him. "Come on, Rey. This is not how we end," he whispered hugging her to him.

He felt the moment she returned from that place just beyond his reach. Opening her eyes, Rey gazed up at Ben, pure happiness and love emanating from her. He was only slightly surprised when she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

Caught up in their passion, they at first did not register the quakes of Exegol as the planet protested the void of energy from the Sith's destruction.

Breaking the kiss, they staggered to their feet propelled by the now obvious tremors as the planet fractured slightly.

Together they made their way to their ships, neither wanting to leave the other.

"We will go together," Rey began.

"To the Resistance, then the remains of the First Order." Ben finished, nodding.

The kissed once more and boarded their ships. Flying in tandem back to Ajan Kloss.

Rey was greeted warmly by the Rebels, Ben with obvious hesitation. Despite the obvious fear the still felt toward him, no one tried to kill him and all gave him a wide berth.

Only Threepio and Artoo sought him out with any enthusiasm.

Chewbacca made sure to greet him by knocking him to the ground with a powerful right hook and a _"Hello Ben."_

When he asked Chewie if he could ever forgive him, the Wookie replied "_Yes, but not yet. One day we will be family again."_

Ben watched as Rey was reunited with her friends, feeling his mother and uncle's presence wash over him.

"Mom, Luke, I… I'm sorry. I know I can never atone for all the evil I committed and allowed while with the First Order. I…"

_"Ben, we all have made mistakes. Truly, no one is all Darkness or all Light."_ His mother interrupted, her spectral hand gently touching his face.

_"We failed you long before you were seduced to the Dark Side. The weight of that burden should never have been yours to carry alone."_ Luke said, guilt ringing in his voice.

"I'm not the Ben Solo you knew. Kylo Ren is dead. I am neither, and both. She is the only thing… no, she is everything. But she feels this same loss as I do. Her whole life Rey has wanted to know the love of a family, where she comes from. She rejects the Palpatine name fully."

His mother, ever one to get straight to the heart of the matter smirked and said "_She could always take your name."_

Ben felt his face flame, his mother's ability to embarrass him undiminished by her passing. The thought of Rey taking his last name, made his heart leap. Even in the Outer Rim woman typically only chose to take a man's name as her own in marriage, in a love match specifically. Marrying Rey.

Through their bond, he felt Rey's amusement. "_Maybe we should tackle the First Order before we move in that direction, Ben."_ Her soft laughter echoing through their connection.

_"Is that a no?"_ He sent back.

_"I don't believe you've asked me the right question yet. We'll talk later, Ben. It's rude to carry on two conversations at once." _With that she eased back to the conversation with Finn and Poe. Her amusement lingered on the edge of his consciousness.

_"Very smart woman, that Rey."_ His mother laughed, clearly having eavesdropped via her own connection to him.

"Rey Solo, huh?" he said, the name not sounding quite right.

Luke chuckled,_ "No, the two of you will never be Solo again…"_

Understanding dawned upon Ben, and he smiled as his mother and uncle faded back into the Force.

* * *

The remnants of the First Order offered little Resistance when Ben and Rey and a delegation of officials arrived and presented them with a treaty drafted by the victorious Resistance. To begin with openness and clarity, the former Resistance leaders and defeated First Order leadership agreed to broadcast the signing of the Treaty of the New Republic Order to every

planet in the galaxy. Each general and commander signed the treaty and pledged to serve the galaxy in peace with trillions as witnesses. As far as the Outer Rim, the people celebrated this hopeful future. As ever, the future was uncertain but now the spark of hope flared to life in all.

* * *

**Epilogue:**

Rey sighed, dropping into the copilot seat of the Falcon. "Have we stopped moving for longer than a few minutes these last months?"

Looking up from a datapad in the as he stood by the pilot's chair, Ben laughed. "Not that I recall"

"Shall we?" She asked, sending a projection of their next destination through the bond, the he recognized the sand and twin suns from his uncle and grandfather's memories.

"Where better to start fresh than at the beginning?" She asked.

"Tattooine. Yes, I think you're right." Ben punched in the coordinates and as if summoned by the Force, Chewbacca brushed past Ben to the pilot seat.

_"I've nearly forgiven you, but you still don't get to drive boy,"_ light teasing permeated Chewbacca's words.

As the former Resistance and First Order worked to forge Republic Order, Rey and Ben had begun to lay the foundation for a New Order of Force users. This New Order would be neither Dark nor Light but both in balance. There were no longer Jedi or Sith, all now one within the Force.

Rose, Finn, and Poe would return to the central systems helping to establish the New Senate, though at present all three were making a journey not so different from Rey and Ben's.

Somewhere in the ship Threepio lectured Artoo on his manners. The energy and voices of varying Jedi drifted around them, some teasing others with sporadic advice.

Leaving the cockpit, Ben checked his mental block, wanting to keep as much of his plan from Rey's notice as possible. He quietly gathered his thoughts, his hand instinctively going to the pocket of his jacket he wore, his father's once upon a time, where his grandmother's wedding ring waited.

Not one to be fooled, especially since their Force bond had only grown with time, Rey suspected what awaited her on Tattooine, but the sweet gesture was enough to convince her to play along.

Landing at the deserted Lars Homestead, Rey saw other ships already there ahead of them. Smiling, Rey watched as Ben hastened to residence, his black hair ruffled by the breeze.

Normally, she would not give her appearance a second thought but she was certain there would be more than a question waiting for her. She made her way to their cabin, and donned a dress, one of Leia's that Rose had snuck into the closet before the ship left. It was long and white with flowing sleeves and had a wide silver belt.

Leia appeared at her shoulder, her hand stroking along the soft fabric. _"Where did you find this relic?"_ Leia's teasing voice betrayed the happiness she felt.

She sent Rey images of a ceremony, one of victory and hope not long after the fall of the Empire. "Rose found it, she has a talent for thinking of things others do not. I think theres another dress in here somewhere if you'd rather I not wear it." In this, Rey felt hesitation, not wanting to offend Leia's ghost.

_"I don't think it matters if you wear this or your scavenger garb, my son will find you beautiful regardless. But I want you to wear it, consider it my arms around you as you officially become my daughter."_ Leia's ghost wiped at tears Rey did not realize she had shed.

"You know he was trying to make this a surprise," Rey laughed. Wiping the rest of her tears away.

_"Oh don't give me that. In all his life, my son has never been subtle. Put on the dress, they're all waiting. " _Leia brushed off the comment as she moved to the chamber beyond.

Laughing Rey did as she was told, once changed she followed Leia's apparition from the Falcon.

At the bottom of the ramp Luke waited, and another she had never thought to see.

* * *

Ben paced nervously, Rey's friends and the various members of the New Temple and New Republic Order that had made this journey watched with palpable amusement. Never had it been more clear to them that he truly was no longer Kylo Ren, than this moment as he waited to wed the woman he loved.

So absorbed in his thoughts was he, that not until the he heard a collective gasps did he turn. There she was, looking glorious and shining like a beacon. As always she was all he really saw at first, then the world returned and he took in the three bluish apparitions standing with her.

"Dad, how? You weren't…" Ben trailed off, shock stealing his words away.

His father's ghost shrugged in that roguish way he always had and his mother swatted him as she always would in life._ "Han, be serious." _

_"The Force is part of us all even if we cannot access it. We all are born of it and return to it In our deaths."_ Luke said, rolling his eyes at Leia and Han.

_"Yes, yes the Force is great and mysterious. Let's get this show on the road, kid."_ Han said, swaggering to his son's side.

"Dad, I…" Ben started.

_"__I know." _His father winked, cutting him off. Ben turned back to Rey.

_"I believe there is something you wanted to ask me, Ben?"_ She sent through their bond.

He smiled. Taking her hand in his, he knelt before her. "Will you marry me and begin this next chapter of our lives with me as a Skywalker?"

He felt her happiness merging with his own.

"Yes." she replied, only slightly breatheless as she allowed him to slide the ring onto her finger.

The ceremony happened in a blur from that moment. Much later, they broke from their gathered friends and stood together watching the dual sunsets over the dunes. They leaned into one another, content to enjoy this moment in peace before embarking upon the next chapter.

* * *

Closer to the homestead, a collection of Force apparitions watched the couple.

_"Will this new path be successful, Master Yoda?"_ Obi-wan asked.

_"Unclear, the future ever is. But much hope have I."_ Yoda replied.

_"I never thought to return to this place,"_ Luke said taking in the neglected moisture farm.

_"You, didn't? I think I vowed never to step foot here again." _Anakin laughed.

_"Well, the benefits of being dead is you're not actually stepping foot anywhere,"_ Leia pointed out.

_"Yeah, but then why in the name of the Force is there sand in my boot!"_ Han exclaimed.

Gui-Gon Jinn and Mace Windu exchanged an amused look and simply disappeared. Ashoka Tano wore a mischievous look Anakin and Obi-wan recognized too late as she managed to Force blast a cloud of sand upon them all, disappearing as the effort exhausted her.

_"Damn it, Snips!"_ Ankain called after her, then began fading himself grumbling _"I hate sand."_

All the ghosts faded gradually until only Luke and Leia watched over the couple.

* * *

Sensing his mother's and uncle's lingering presence, Ben and Rey turned toward their ghostly forms. The Skywalker twins smiled at the young Skywalker couple.

_"May the Force be with you,"_ Leia and Luke said in unison, their spectral forms retreating into the Force.

"Gone." Ben whispered, reaching to pull his wife into his arms.

"No one is ever truly gone," Rey said, turning into his embrace. They simply held each other relishing the possibilities their new future presented to them.

* * *

**_As the suns set upon the sands of Tattooine, the saga of the Jedi and Sith ended. From this end, the next generation of Skywalkers would usher in an era of true balance and peace_**.

* * *


End file.
